Tuesday, May 16, 2006

try a little...tenderness...

Hi gang!

Sorry my blogging slacked off post-finals. Since I am no longer confined to my apt to work on take home test, I apparently have less time for procrastination...i.e. blogging.

Therefore I have many topics to discuss and embarrassing obsessions to relay.

1) Why oh why are former boyband members allowed to record albums? Have any of you heard the latest from O-town's Ashley Parker Angel (why is that not a girl name?) or 98 deg's Nick Lachey? Oh good grief, they are awful awful awful.

2) I am pretty sure I’ve brought it up before, but what the hell happened to Billy Ocean? That guy was basically like the second coming of Lionel Richie, but he had some great tunes…he even had the equivalent of “Dancing on the Ceiling” with his “Get Out of My Dreams Get Into My Car.” Billy, if you are bored and googling your name and this blog pops up, you should know that you still have fans who love you and want you to record again! The new millennium needs its own “Caribbean Queen.”

3) Peach cobbler (a la mode) may be the best dessert ever.

4) Taylor on American Idol just sang the Otis Redding song that I have been obsessed with for 2 solid months…”Try a Little Tenderness.” I will be shattered if he doesn’t win this thing. Also I think his song choice is further evidence that he and I are meant to be (don’t tell Aneil).

5) Everyone makes fun of the fact that I never ever watch movies, and apparently am therefore useless. But I watched a shocking number of movies this weekend…although the proportion of movies starring Queen Latifah is really high.

“Last Holiday” – Queen Latifah is diagnosed with a brain tumor and 1 month to live, she cashes in her bonds, goes to a resort, and ironically learns how to live! I loved it.

“Pride and Prejudice” – I don’t know why but I loooove this story and I loooooved this version…could Keira Knightly be any cuter? Mom insists on using the subtitles for pretty much every movie we watch, but we tried this one sans titles at first. When for the first few scenes even I had trouble understanding what the heck they were saying, I look over at mom, ask her if she understands, and she says “no pretty much nothing, thank God I already know the story.” Then she says “the only one I kind of understand is Donald Sutherland”…whom I pointed out is the only American in the movie…needless to say we added the subtitles, and really picked up on all the nuances, i.e. dialog…did any of you kids see it? Did you have a huge crush on Darcy? Also, did the giggly sisters drive you insane like they did me? Did you strangely miss Colin Firth, just because he usually shows up in movies like these? Just checking.

“The Family Stone” – Sarah Jessica Parker is dating that weird looking guy from “My Best Friend’s Wedding” and has to meet his family…including Luke Wilson, Diane Keaton, and Coach. Also the girl from “The Notebook” who is just too cute for words. Unfortunately the rest of the cast of “Coach” couldn’t make it to the family Christmas.

“Beauty Shop” – Since we were so charmed by the Queen in “Last Holiday” we went back to the store and got this one…also adorable…and the hottt guy from Amistad was the dreamy African electrician/classical piano player who lives upstairs and just happens to fall for our heroine. Yes!

“Walk the Line” – Everyone else in my family hated it, but I thoroughly enjoyed this one. But then again, I do looove rock n’ roll. And Johnny Cash is real damn cool. And the performances truly were Oscar worthy.

And I watched…for the first time…”Jesus Christ Superstar”…It was everything I hoped it would be…strange and cheesy and pretty and psychedelic and blasphemous and religious all at the same time. Jesus was teeny tiny but rocked out his angry solo. And Judas was fantastic. I loooooved it of course.

Okay, sadly, this sums me up. I am going to Fro’s graduation on Friday and then Dallas (!) for Six Flags fun on Monday. Plus I get to spend an entire week with my darling brown boy, so I’m really really excited. Mmmk that’s all…peace out.

Thursday, May 04, 2006

you're a fool...that's what's wrong with you!

I have been coming to the realization over the past few days that I am, indeed, getting very very old. I will list a few examples (i.e. evidence) of this phenomenon:

1) Post-Aneil’s Brifday Party, Erik and the kids wanted to go do something after the bars closed, and I thought to myself “are you crazy? It’s 2am I should’ve been in bed hours ago, or curled up in a ball reading a book at least.”

2) This morning I was taking various (4 to be exact) vitamins/hormones (although admittedly none of them are required to keep me going, but are preventative). And I thought to myself “I should really get one of those day of the week pill holder thingys…that would really help me out!”

3) Every night this week I have watched either American Idol (and voted for the wacky guy with gray hair) or golden girls (and laughed at the wacky gals with gray hair).

4) We went to the mall on Saturday and I didn’t really want to go into the young trendy stores (except for Fossil, since Aneil loves it) but instead actually said “you know, I’ve been buying more and more of my clothes from department store collections…they’re much more classic.”

5) Aneil was panicking because he turned 26 this week, and I kept saying things along the lines of “don’t be silly! 26 is YOUNG.”

At any rate, I am feeling like an oldie, but am trying to embrace it. We are going to the symphony on Sat and I have plans to go to Foley’s with the girls at work to shop for something “smart” to wear on Sat. Le sigh.

Also, I went grocery shopping yesterday afternoon, and here’s the thing…I looooove grocery shopping. Yet I hardly ever do it. I will wait and wait until I have eaten every last bit of edible meals in my apt before I make the trip. Yes, all last week I ate the last 2 lean cuisines and 3 cans of Chef Boyardee. (item of note, “Boyardee” is recognized by Microsoft spell check AND is auto-capitalized!) Anywho, I love the whole grocery store experience, and I love coming home and having fresh fruits and milk and bread and bags of lite Caesar salad (my goodness, I am addicted to those!). I also looooove store-bought California rolls, and I eat them the second I get home from the store. Okay, so why do I wait and wait and wait until the last minute? It’s very strange, indeed.

Last night in lieu of watching “Flavor of Love” reruns on VH1, I popped in a video that Aneil loaned me called “Serendipity.” Has everyone already seen this? With John Cusack and the shockingly hot Kate Beckinsale? It was real silly and contrived but made me think (a little) about soulmates and fate/God whatever you believe. I used to not believe that you had a soulmate, and there were lots of people in the world that could match you. But recently Erik + Aneil (the most sensitive boys in the world, I think) have convinced me otherwise. Especially Erik’s point that God has a plan for your life, and if you never “meet your soulmate” it’s not by chance, but it is his plan to do other things with your life. At any rate, although the movie is silly and oh so obvious with the “matching gloves” symbolism, I thought it illustrated nicely what I think about the subject. Sure, there is a soulmate meant for you, but you have to follow your heart in order to find them. God can point you in the right direction, but you still have free will (that’s the gift that makes us human!). Both characters could have ignored the clues and married the other people they were with, but they followed their hearts and found happiness! It’s a nice thought.

Today the apartment maintenance people apparently came by to investigate the mysterious dripping/raining above the toilet in my bathroom. I received a note on the sink that informed me that it was the A/C not draining correctly and it was signed, "Jesus". It made me smile, although I'm sure "Hey-Zeus" was the guy who fixed it, for a split second I felt like I was getting a note from the big guy himself.

One final note, I stumbled across this news article today, and it made me giggle throughout the workday (I have italicized my favorite part):

Mr. T: Take my advice, or else

NEW YORK (AP) -- If Dr. Phil can dispense advice, why not Mr. T?

The TV Land network announced Tuesday that it will start "I Pity the Fool," a series where "The A-Team" star travels across the country dispensing inspiration and advice.

"The 't' stands for talking," he said in an interview with The Associated Press. "I'm going to talk it up. It's what I've been doing all my life."

The series starts in October. He'll offer help to people struggling with personal or professional problems.

"My show ain't no 'Dr. Phil,' with people sitting around crying," he said. "You're a fool -- that's what's wrong with you. You're a fool if you don't take my advice."

Tuesday, May 02, 2006

procrastinating is a terrible thing

Okay, I am supposed to be working on my finance final. But it's so hard to get started. I feel as though once I do get going on it, I will (maybe?) get really into it and work to completion. But seeing as it's not due for another week, I've hit a brick wall.

Instead, here are the things I am obsessing about today:

I'm intrigued by this news story:

Why would you plagarize chick lit?

I often tease Amee for reading what I refer to as "pink books", i.e. not romance novels, but the fiction novel equivalent of the chick flick. They put them in the general fiction section, but you can usually locate them pretty quickly due to their bright pink covers. Almost always about young professional smart women who have misadventures and romantic encounters with hunky men who are drawn to their quirkiness.

These books are not as ridiculous as some of the harlequin romances, but they are indeed very formulaic and silly (I have found that while reading them is tiresome, I enjoy listening to them as audiobooks, because they are easy to enjoy while driving.) So I am fascinated that this girl would actually have 40+ passages in her book that are shockingly similar to those of now, 3 or 4 other books. It's ridiculous. Like she cut/paste her book together! What makes me sad, is that since she is young, this could reflect badly on all young writers, some of whom are truly talented.

But you gotta feel sorry for this poor girl...makes me think of the kid in Elizabethtown (a terrible movie..don't watch it)...but in that, he is a young superstar shoe designer and his shoe flops and loses billions for the company. I can't imagine being part of a screwup that big at such a young age.

Okay, anywho, I feel like a lame-o but I just voted for my favorite American Idol this week. The gray-haired guy was just so charming this week and I am worried that he could get sent home. His rendition of "Something" was actually sort of sexy. Heh. I guess I love the older men. I'm sure my 3 votes will help save him from elimination.

Okay, I did it again...4 votes.